Little Wooden Head
by The Light's Refrain
Summary: This was not what was supposed to happen. There shouldn't be a forest in the middle of the Rose Valley, certainly not one created by Lavi. Kanda delves into the manic woods to find out what's occured...but maybe he already knows? After ep 40 AU COMPLETE
1. Under the Forest

_Hello! Here's the first chapter of the Halloween-ish story...that's about two weeks late. I can't remember how many times I've rewritten this... _

_Anyway, first things first. THIS HAS SPOILERS FROM THE LATER MANGAS YET TO BE RELEASED HERE, SO IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS, TURN BACK NOW!  
_

_With that out of the way...This is an three-chapter AU story that takes place right after ep 40 of the series, hence the roses everywhere. There are a lot of flashbacks in this chapter, which take place roughly around ep 28-37. _

_EDIT: Italics have been fixed.  
_

**_Disclaimer: I don't own . I don't need any of Komui's robots wrecking my house, thank you. _**

Little Wooden Head

Chapter 1: Under the Forest

"_What will you do after the war, Yu?"_

_The question had caught Kanda off-guard, since the battle against the Akuma would likely last beyond his brief lifetime._

"_What does it matter to you?" the dark-haired swordmaster answered blandly, as he and Lavi leaned on the railing of the ship. _

_They were watching as more and more scarlet bled into the gold-and-ginger sunset, the restless ocean stained with the same stigmata as the sky. At least, Lavi was watching the day end. Kanda's stomach was doing flip-flops while the waves rocked the boat._

"_Oh, I was just curious," his ruby-haired companion replied, the burning nightfall shining in his left eye. The other eye was protected, or hidden, by his black eye patch. "I was just wondering what you would do, if you had a chance at a normal life."_

"_What would __you__ do?" Kanda asked boredly._

"_Me?" questioned Lavi, a hint of poison in his voice despite his casual smile. "I don't have a chance at a normal life. I'd just be shipped off to the next war to record it. There's never a shortage of those."_

_Kanda smirked._

"_Maybe I'll see you on the other side of that war."_

"_No…" Lavi answered, suddenly sullen. "No, you won't."_

IIIIII

Kanda raced alone through _Rozova_ _Dolina_, or "Rose Valley", of Bulgaria. A written message from General Tiedoll was in the left pocket of his coat. The surly samurai wished his master would get his own golem instead of forcing him to run back and forth delivering letters. But no, the artistic Exorcist insisted on the beauty of the written word, and claimed that a sprint through the roses would be good for him.

Flowers were overrated, in Kanda's opinion.

The dark-eyed blade-wielder dashed over the crest of a rose-cloaked hill, rushed down the slope…and abruptly collided with a tree.

Kanda stumbled back, held his face, and cursed loudly. He was grateful that his master hadn't been around to see that.

He glared at the crooked white trunk of the offending tree. Why was there such a large tree growing in the middle of the path, anyway?

The flowery perfume drifting in the air suddenly grew stronger.

Kanda glanced at the roses around him, and saw that their blooms all burned with a scarlet aura. Their feverish glow gave everything a reddish tinge.

"What is this?" Kanda hissed.

Then he saw the grove of bent white trees behind the first tree, threatening to consume the roses before it.

Now he _knew _that there wasn't supposed to be a forest in the middle of _Rozova_ _Dolina_, much less one with such strange trees. Their leaves shone with a green light, as if a mystical blaze were sealed inside them.

He looked up to the canopy of the first tree. It too had glowing green leaves that defied the coming crimson dusk.

Suddenly another tree broke through the roses next to Kanda. It went from sapling to full-grown in seconds, twisting erratically as it strained to touch the darkening sky. Radiant foliage shot forth from the bare branches like impish spirits. As soon at that tree gained its leaves, two more erupted from the earth.

He sensed the ethereal presence hovering around him rising in power, making his skin prickle. The scent of roses swirled around him like a red phantom.

This must be…Innocence…but wait, isn't this…

"…Lavi's Innocence?" he spoke aloud, as more trees thrust out of the ground behind him.

Kanda knew the emerald-eyed Exorcist's Innocence granted him not only the power to smash enemies with a size-shifting hammer, but also the ability to influence elements of nature like fire or lightning. Kanda personally had never seen him summon a forest before, but such a thing would be possible, if the redhead desired it.

Now the roses near the supernatural grove were mutating, their thorny stems growing and coiling around the warped trees. The shining blossoms glared like beastly red eyes as their thorns punctured the bark.

The stoic samurai glared at his ever-shifting environment.

But the Innocence…something about it is…strange.

Kanda walked to the crooked tree in front of him and placed his hand on it.

Suddenly his emotions were roaring, trying to pull him in all directions at once. His heart battered hotly against his frozen body.

What…?

Was this really Lavi's Innocence?

_What…is this…?_

Kanda felt the air around him become hot.

"What…?"

He saw a huge red symbol form on the ground, encircling him and the tree.

"What the hell?!" yelled Kanda, snapping out of his stupor and quickly leaping out of the crimson sign's domain.

A colossal snake made of fire ruptured out of the scarlet emblem, rising high into the air. The air around it warped from its heat.

Kanda glared at the fiery being, his emotions and heartbeat stabilizing.

_What does that idiot think-_

Kanda's dark eyes widened.

The flame serpent's form was corrupted. Its eyes were bulging, great balls of yellow staring at the samurai, and its neck was crooked. A tongue of fire hung out of its gaping mouth.

It lingered in the air a minute more, its swollen eyes gaping at Kanda accusingly, before it lunged down at the blade-bearing Exorcist.

Kanda took out his sword Mugen and ran his fingers down its side, causing the black blade to become silver.

"First Illusion!" he shouted, swiping the air. "Hell's Insects!"

From the cut air came ghostly silver bugs, each with eight red eyes aglow. The sinewy creatures swarmed over the giant fire snake, tearing it to pieces.

Kanda watched the remaining embers fall and die away, his eyes narrowing. Then he dashed farther into the shining forest, Mugen still in hand.

IIIIII

"_Oh god, Lenalee, don't scare us like that," Lavi said, running up to hug the female Exorcist._

_Kanda too was relieved to see violet-eyed girl safe, as was Allen beside him. After seeing her dive into the mouth of an enormous dragon Akuma to destroy it from the inside, everyone had been fearful that she wouldn't come back out. But here she was, not a bit of her long hair singed by wyrm's fire._

"_Don't worry, it's alright now," she replied with a smile._

_The scarlet-haired Exorcist began to shake._

"_No it's not alright," he answered, his voice shaking too. "Why do you have to always do things like that? Don't you care what happens to you?"_

"…_As long as you guys are alright, I'm happy," Lenalee responded. "Please Lavi, don't worry so much."_

_He pulled her closer instead._

"_Geez, even if you don't care what happens to you, at least consider your Innocence. You wouldn't want it to be destroyed, would you?"_

"_Lavi…"_

"_You're important to us too, you know. You're important to me, dammit!"_

_And then he kissed her._

_They should have expected it, when Kanda thought about it later. Right then, though, both he and Allen couldn't help but stare, and no one else's expression was more shocked than Lenalee's._

_When his lips released hers, his emerald eye soon wakened from its dreamy state and looked to the side. He let go of her._

"_I-I'm sorry," Lavi murmured, his cheeks and ears steadily growing redder. "I-I had no right…"_

_Then he noticed his comrades, who were still staring, and his whole face flushed red._

"_Ah, so, anyway, we've destroyed all the Akuma, so let's all go back to headquarters, eh?" Lavi chirped a little too cheerfully, turning around and pushing up his snake-scaled headband. "Nothing like a good nap after a long mission, huh?"_

_The blushing scribe had just begun to march off when his old master Bookman landed next to him. The elderly Exorcist grabbed his scarlet hair, forcing Lavi to bend down due to the height difference. _

"_I go to deliver the Innocence, and this is what happens," the panda-marked scribe hissed, his hand still gripping the younger Exorcist's hair. _

"_I-I didn't mean-"_

"_Apologize to Miss Lenalee this minute!" snapped the old man, making Lavi turn around and bow, all while maintaining his hold on his red hair._

_Lavi's face had become terribly pale, and he shivered slightly under Bookman's grip._

"_Lavi!" Bookman spat._

"_I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he blurted out, squeezing his one good eye tight. "I had no right to kiss you like that! I'm sorry!"_

"_Lavi…" Lenalee began._

_Before the red-haired Exorcist had any chance to reply, however, his master dragged him away. Lavi kept his gaze on the ground._

_Kanda watched the two scribes walk away in silence. _

_He would think little of the scene afterward, until much later._

IIIIII

Kanda soon found out that the forest itself was insane. The dark-haired samurai was plagued not only by broken fire snakes that would set parts of the woods on fire, but by the trees and roses themselves. Their branches and thorns lashed out at him like warlock claws, and even the glowing leaves would detach and try to slice him with their surprisingly sharp, hot edges. Occasionally spikes of ice thrust up from the tormented ground. The overwhelming aromas of the blossoms were making Kanda feel slightly ill.

_Has that idiot lost all control of his Innocence?_

Another fire snake erupted from the forest, crooked mouth parted wide to swallow him. He jumped to the side to escape the massive jaws.

"Mist Wind!"

The flame-born being was blown away by a sideways tornado. It took away some of the powerful perfume with it.

A moment later a teenage girl landed next to Kanda, her long dark pigtails streaming behind her.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Alright enough," answered the stoic warrior. "…I don't suppose you can explain to me what Lavi thinks he's doing, do you?"

Her violet eyes grew anxious.

"I don't understand what's going on either," admitted the dark-haired girl. "We were up late fighting Akuma, so we all slept in late. Then Allen and Lavi took a walk to see the roses one more time while Krory and I shopped for supplies…"

"…And then this strange forest appeared," Kanda finished for her, swiping at an intruding rose vine with his sword.

"Yeah," replied Lenalee, eyeing the demented woods around her. "People from the fields came running into town saying how this forest came out of nowhere and how the trees and roses attacked anyone who tried to go near it. I knew Allen and Lavi were out there, so I ran into the forest to find them."

"And? Have you found either one of them?"

"No…" the violet-eyed Exorcist responded, as she looked away. "Though I can tell by the fire snakes that this must have something to do with Lavi's Innocence. I've been in here for at least an hour looking for them. Krory must be worried."

"He didn't come with you?"

"I wanted him to stay behind to make sure none of the villagers got hurt by the forest, and to help them evacuate if necessary," Lenalee explained. "I hope we can save at least some of the roses, though, and I don't want the villagers to lose their home."

The roses wrapped around the trees started to catch fire one by one, like candlesticks. Strangely, this seemed to amplify their scent rather than burn it away.

"Roses saved or not, we need to hurry up and find those idiots before the whole forest burns up," growled Kanda, running ahead.

"Right!" Lenalee answered, her Innocence-infused boots giving her the speed and grace of a gazelle. "I don't understand why Lavi's Innocence is acting like this, but he and Allen must need our help."

Kanda's eyes narrowed.

_Need help…_

IIIIII

_"Can you really help me…Yu?"_

_Kanda paused._

"_Do you want me to help you?"_

_Lavi paused._

"…_Yeah…Yeah, I guess I do."_

IIIIII

Kanda had jumped ahead to avoid a thunderbolt when he saw it: Lavi's snake-scaled headband, stuck on a thin black thorn of a dark tree. Lenalee saw it too, and she followed the dark-haired swordmaster to the tree to retrieve it.

He halted when he reached the tree, his eyes widening.

"Kanda?" Lenalee asked, just behind him. "What is it?"

Kanda's eyes narrowed as he plucked the thorn from the tree's bark. For the thorn wasn't a thorn at all, but a thick black needle.

IIIIII

"_I'll be your fighting partner."_

_The other Exorcists in the training area turned around. The dark-eyed samurai didn't so much as look at them. Instead he kept his sharp gaze on the old man on the other side of the room, who returned with a cool stare._

_"Very well," Bookman replied calmly, his large wisp of gray hair bobbing as he walked into the practice ring._

_Kanda also treaded into the arena, drawing Mugen._

_The elderly Exorcist summoned black needles to his fingertips like claws._

_The referee, who was really just a bored Finder, took his place beside the arena and rung the bell._

_"Fight!"_

_Kanda charged forward._

_It was over in a matter of seconds._

_Kanda found himself falling forward, his nerves paralyzed by well-aimed needles. As his face hit the cold floor, he felt the diminutive scribe place one foot on his back and point a needle at the back of his neck._

_The bell cried shrilly._

_The dark-eyed blade-wielder felt the amazed eyes of all the other Exorcists burning into his skin. He hated it._

_Then he saw Lavi, who had been just entering the room, only to find his comrade pinned under his old master. His one-eyed stare scorched the samurai._

_"You still have a lot to learn," Bookman stated coldly, as he helped the stern warrior sit up. He began to treat the younger Exorcist's wounds with his supernatural acupuncture techniques._

_Kanda had never felt more disgraced._

IIIIII

"Why would Bookman attack Lavi?" asked Lenalee, as the two Exorcists rushed through the manic woods. "I mean, it doesn't make any sense."

Kanda stayed quiet as he slashed away malicious branches. If only he could cut through the stifling scent. If only there was something that he could actually _kill_.

"Kanda?"

"What makes you think that I know why the two of them are fighting?" he snapped, a thorn cutting his cheek. "It's not my business."

"Oh," answered the girl with the long pigtails. "…But I never said anything about Lavi attacking Bookman. I only asked why Bookman would attack him."

"Well, I assume the idiot would fight back if he was attacked. Is that a poor assumption?" growled the stern warrior, the cut on his cheek quickly resealing. He had a feeling that his rapid healing powers would come to use several times before the ordeal was over, if only to heal thorn scratches.

"Well, no…" Lenalee trailed off.

Kanda leered at the wild trees and burning roses. Another thorn sliced his other cheek.

_…This better not…_

IIIIII

_Kanda was never one to get drunk easily. Therefore, the irritable swordmaster was having a hard time getting any kind of buzz while he was at the bar on the ship. Lavi, on the other hand, had no such trouble, and his mind was in another world by his third shot of beer._

_The two of them were sitting side by side, Lavi cheerfully and loudly singing something in Italian, while Kanda remained as silent and sober as ever. Then Lavi began tugging on the warrior's lengthy ponytail, giggling and hiccupping all the while._

_The surly blade-wielder did not appreciate this, and he let his madly merry companion know it by pulling on his red hair, hard._

_Lavi let out a sharp yelp and stiffened in his grasp, letting go of the samurai's ponytail._

_"See? That hurts, doesn't it?" growled Kanda, a grim satisfaction in his voice._

_Lavi stared at Kanda with a wide green eye, and began to shake._

_"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry-"_

_Kanda blinked, his grip on the Exorcist's hair loosening._

_"Hey, Lavi-"_

_"Just don't don't don't don't-" the tyro scribe went on, closing his eye tight._

_Kanda let go of his hair, dark eyes wide and confused, while Lavi hid his head in his arms, still trembling._

_Kanda couldn't get a peep out of him for the rest of the night._

IIIIII

"Mist Wind!" shouted Lenalee, blowing away a duo of fire snakes. "…Kanda."

"What?"

"You know something, don't you?"

Flurries of fiery rose petals were flung at the two of them, the blazing flowers joined by the hot glowing leaves.

"Mist Wind!" yelled the female Exorcist, kicking and summoning another mystic tornado. "Please, tell me what's going on."

"First Illusion! Hell's Insects!" shouted Kanda, as he summoned the ghostly monsters to deal with the hurricane of rogue foliage. But he said nothing else.

IIIIII

_Thanks to their little excursion to the bar, Lavi woke up with a horrible headache. In fact, Lavi was still lying in bed battling his hangover. He hadn't even bothered to put on his headband yet._

_Kanda was nearby, tying his hair back up into a ponytail and wondering whose brilliant idea it had been to book the two of them in the same room. He suspected his master. On the table between their beds was a vase filled with white and red roses._

_"Damn, my head hurts…" the redhead muttered, his arm laying over his eyes to block out the room's harsh light. "It really frickin' hurts…"_

_"That's what happens when you drink too much," stated Kanda, who was little worse for the wear. "You get hung over the next morning and your head hurts like hell."_

_Lavi sat up, only to hold his bare forehead and squeeze his eye shut._

_"Damn…it hurts almost as bad as when that old panda-"_

_He suddenly fell silent._

_"…Like when that old panda what?" questioned Kanda._

_The redhead remained quiet, his dazed eye appearing fearful as he kept his gaze on the bed._

_Kanda's eyes narrowed. It was the same kind of fright that had been in his fellow Exorcist's eye last night._

_The long-haired warrior walked over and sat next to Lavi on the bed._

_"Hey."_

_"Yeah?" the Exorcist with the pirate patch asked, still holding his head._

_Kanda grabbed the scribe's hair and pulled on it. He felt Lavi stiffen under his grasp like the previous night._

_"…Stop that, Yu," the emerald-eyed recorder spoke quietly, his gaze fixed on the bed. "Stop it."_

_"I would like to know…" Kanda began, before his eyes narrowed. "Hmm?"_

_He used his free hand to brush Lavi's long bangs back. On the upper part of Lavi's forehead were small oval burn scars, one on the left side of his temple and four on his right._

_"…What the hell are these?"_

_"Nothing! They're nothing!" the scarlet-maned scribe insisted, squirming in Kanda's grasp. "Just some old scars from an old battle, that's all."_

_Kanda studied the scars. They didn't look fresh, but Lavi's involuntary reaction today and the night before suggested that he expected another attack like the one that had left these scars…or had endured it several times previous._

_"Lavi," he began. "…Where did these scars come from, and what do they mean? Tell me."_

IIIIII

Kanda was the first to spot him.

Lavi was wrapped in the coils of thick wooden vines woven into a parody of a tree, his arms held straight out and his legs bound together in the mockery of a cross. A few feet above him was his Innocence-infused hammer, also embraced by the wooden vines and pulsing a brilliant green. Dozens of roses bloomed and blazed on the web of vines.

"Lavi!" both Exorcists shouted, as they rushed toward the entangled redhead.

Lavi slothfully raised his head, his one green eye lusterless.

"Y-Yu."

Despite the scribe's horrid appearance, Kanda felt a surge of relief.

The glassy green eye narrowed.

"Who are…you?"

The surge of relief was swept away by a sickening flood.

Lavi had not said his first name "Yu", Kanda realized, but the cold pronoun, "You". Why did those two different words have to sound the same?

"Lavi! Lavi, it's us!" called out Lenalee. "Kanda and me, Lenalee!"

The eye remained narrowed.

"We're here to help you Lavi!" shouted the violet-eyed girl. "We're going to get you out of here!"

"Go away," the verdurous-eyed scribe hissed.

"Lavi!" yelled Lenalee.

"Humans are scum. Go away."

"Lavi, snap out of it!" called the female Exorcist. "It's us, it's us!"

Kanda said nothing, but his grip on Mugen shook.

Oh hell, oh hell…

"Go the hell away!" screeched the crimson-maned young man, his hair rising as his eye shone bright green. There were fresh burns on his forehead.

A ferocious gale shot from the redhead's direction, blowing the two Exorcists away like dry leaves.

The last thing Kanda remembered was the stench of ashes.

_IIIIII_

_So how'd you like it? Feel free to let me know what you liked and didn't like. The whole story has already been written, so more reviews means faster updates (though I'm still tweaking the later chapters)_

_**NEXT CHAPTER: Under the Rose - **The truth, the secret, and the unexpected consequence. _

_Cya! _


	2. Under the Rose

_Greetings! Thanks to all who have reviewed or otherwise taken an interest in this story. This chapter is shorter than the last, but now you get to know what's going on. This is also where a lot of theory applies, theories that will probably be disproved in one way or another later, but oh well. It's another reason why it's considered AU._

_Disclaimer: Nope, don't own . Headquarters would make such a cool secret base though._

_EDIT: Italics fixed now.  
_

Chapter 2: Under the Rose

_"Then run."_

_"…What?"_

_"If you don't want to die, and you're not going to fight, then run," Kanda had said, still sitting on the bed next to Lavi. "You could use the hammer to leave the ship. It would buy you a few days time."_

_"I'm not gonna die, Yu," Lavi answered with a small smile._

_"But the way you put it, it might as well be death."_

_Lavi had nothing to say, and his weak grin slipped away._

_"Can you really help me...Yu?"_

IIIIII

"Kanda! Kanda wake up!"

The dark-haired swordmaster opened his eyes to find a worried Lenalee hovering over him. Some loose strands of hair hung over her face, but most of it was still contained in her two pigtails.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking relieved. "You got knocked out when you hit one of the trees."

He pushed himself up, and saw his long hair curtain both sides of his face. His own hair-tie had not been as sturdy as Lenalee's. He saw his breath turn white as he observed his surroundings.

The woods were freezing over, with a clear ice encrusting the ground, trees and roses. If it were not for the glowing leaves and flowers, the scene would have almost looked normal. The scent was still there, but most of the sweetness had been scorched out of it.

Kanda quietly admired the scenery for a moment. Then he felt the roses' fragrance curl up in his lungs like a snake, and remembered why he was here.

"Damn it…" he hissed, leering at his reflection in the thick clear ice. The ghostly fake glared back with just as much fury. "Damn it, damn it, _damn_ it! That_ bastard_!"

"Kanda, please!" Lenalee pleaded. "Don't be mad at Lavi. He's not himself right-"

"I'm not talking about him!" snapped the dark-eyed samurai, spitting out pale steam.

The female Exorcist's eyes broadened at his harsh snap.

"Kanda?" she asked. "What's going on? You've been acting…strange."

Kanda blinked, and turned his gaze to the side. Had he been acting strange? He felt strange, now that he thought about it. Then again, everything around them was strange too.

A large scarlet symbol formed on the ground several feet away from them, and yet another distorted serpent ripped its way through the ground. The icy spot where it had broke though was cloaked in white vapor. Its form was feeble, weakened by the cold.

"It doesn't make any difference now," answered Kanda, stroking the side of his blade and turning it from black to silver. "First Illusion! Hell's Insects!"

Most of the wraith bugs locked onto the snake and began to tear apart its fiery form, but one silvery stray went up through a patch of half-frozen vines and vanished from sight. Kanda thought little of it, until he heard screams coming from above.

The half-frozen vines squirmed until a white-haired boy with a red star mark over his eye came tumbling out, trying to pry the spirit creature off his leg. He landed in some bushes nearby, but quickly jumped out with a yelp as the plant began to shock him. He slipped on the ice, slid down toward the two astonished spectators, and fell face-first at their feet.

"Ow…" he moaned, the red-eyed insect attached to his leg disintegrating.

"Hello beansprout," Kanda greeted dryly, his eye twitching slightly. "Always the one to have a flashy entrance, I see."

"It was only because your stupid bug bit me!" protested the gray-eyed boy, glaring at the swordmaster as he pushed himself back onto his feet. "And my name's not beansprout, it's-"

"Allen!" Lenalee exclaimed, suddenly giving the white-haired boy a hug and causing him to yelp in surprise. "Thank God you're alright!"

"Well, _alright_ is a loose way to put it…"

"Hmph," Kanda responded, Mugen still in hand. "I don't suppose that you could tell us why you were taking a nap up there all this time?"

"I wasn't-"

Allen's gray eyes suddenly blazed with panic.

"Lavi! Bookman-"

"Bookman?" asked Lenalee, her violet eyes narrowing.

"Bookman…he showed up while Lavi and I were on the path looking at all the roses," the white-haired Exorcist explained. "He and Lavi started talking, and Lavi seemed casual enough, but all of a sudden he attacked Bookman with his hammer and they got into a big fight."

Both Kanda and Lenalee looked surprised.

"Lavi started it?" asked the female Exorcist.

Kanda narrowed his eyes.

At least he fought back.

"Well, yeah, but…" Allen paused, looking to the side. "Anyway, I tried to break up the fight, but Lavi said it was either his life or Bookman's so he wouldn't stop. Said it was a Bookman thing and I should leave, otherwise my life might be at stake too."

"But why?" asked Lenalee. "Why would they try to take each other's lives?"

"That I still don't understand…but I thought maybe one of them…maybe one of them had become a Akuma somehow, so I checked them with my left eye, but both of them were still human. And then I got really scared, because I didn't want either of them to die. There were so many lost recently to that large Akuma attack…"

Lenalee looked down at the ground. Kanda leered at it.

"Then Lavi got struck by a bunch of Bookman's needles, and he fell down into the roses, while his hammer fell a few feet away and shrunk down to normal size. Bookman picked it up and put it in his coat, and then began walking to where Lavi was.

The samurai's mirror image on the ice leered back, its gaze colder than the tundra.

"I ran over to Lavi and yelled at Bookman to stop, but Bookman just kept walking toward us. His eyes were like ice. Then Lavi told me to get out while I still could, began yelling at me to run. But I couldn't leave him like that, not when Bookman looking so cold."

Kanda's grip on Mugen shook.

"Then all of a sudden Bookman was behind me, and he paralyzed me with his needles," Allen continued, his eyes frightened and distant. "He tossed me out into the road, and said he would deal with me in a little bit. He bent down into the roses and picked up Lavi by his hair. Lavi glared at him, told him to leave me out of it. And I couldn't do…anything…"

"Allen…" Lenalee breathed, hugging the gray-eyed boy's shivering body tighter while her own eyes spun with terror.

Kanda wondered vaguely if she remembered how Bookman had grabbed Lavi's hair when he had forced him to apologize to her. The shuddering in his hand had begun to infect his arm.

"Then Bookman…ripped of Lavi's headband, and pinned it on a tree with one of his needles…and then he said something…I dunno, something about how it was all because of him, and how he was going to punish him as well as us. Lavi just told him to leave him out of it too…But I have no idea…"

Kanda snarled.

He would like to see him try.

"And then…he gripped Lavi's forehead…hard…All of that time Lavi just glared at him…And green sparks…started crackling…from the hand…that he had on Lavi's forehead…

Allen started shivering violently.

"And then he broke his mind."

It had not been Allen that had spoken, but Kanda. The other two Exorcists turned to him with wide eyes.

"…Isn't that right…?" the samurai went on, looking behind him. "…Bookman?"

Allen and Lenalee followed Kanda's sharp gaze up to a thick branch high above them, where a panda-marked old man stood quietly.

"Well? Don't you have anything to say, Bookman?" Kanda spoke, his voice and breath frosty. "Or are you still pretending to be God?"

Bookman only narrowed his eyes and leapt onto the ground.

Allen pulled himself away from Lenalee's grasp, his gray eyes looking at the ice-covered earth.

"…Why?" he asked, his hands curling into fists. "Why did you do that to Lavi? He was your successor, wasn't he?"

Allen's left arm abruptly mutated into a giant clawed hand, its tough outer skin the color of ashes. Green fire erupted from his shoulder blade.

"…Allen?" Lenalee asked, though the frightened look in her eyes suggested she already knew the cursed-marked boy's motive for activating his Innocence.

With a bloodcurdling yell the white-haired Exorcist lunged for the silent scribe.

"Allen!"

"Why?!" he shouted, throwing swipe after swipe at Bookman, who easily dodged. "Why did you do that to Lavi?! Didn't you care about him?! What did he do to deserve getting his mind torn apart?! What does anybody do to deserve that?! Why, dammit, why?!"

Allen paused to catch his breath after frosted breath, while Bookman watched coolly.

"Why…why…"

"…It was because he was Bookman's successor," Kanda muttered, almost to himself.

"Huh?" questioned both Allen and Lenalee, turning her gazes toward Kanda.

"It's just part of the process to make Lavi a Bookman," he continued, not looking at Lenalee or Allen. "If he's allowed to keep any one identity too long, then he'll develop attachments to things and people around him. That would taint his perfectly unbiased judgment for recording unknown history, supposedly."

Kanda leered at the frozen ground. The shuddering in his arm would not cease.

"So every now and then Bookman clears out all the memories not essential to being a Bookman. At least that's what Lavi told me back then," he went on. "When he does erase the memories it breaks Lavi's mind, and Lavi becomes confused and loses all sense of reality for a while. Or, to put it into simpler terms, he goes insane."

The two younger Exorcists' eyes broadened.

"…That's…" Lenalee began, turning an angry eye toward Bookman. "How long have you been doing that to Lavi?"

Kanda coolly turned his eyes to the female Exorcist.

"That…is the wrong question to ask."

"Huh?" asked the violet-eyed girl, turning back to Kanda.

Kanda walked over to where Bookman was.

"Forty-nine."

"Huh?" Allen asked.

"Lavi has been to forty-nine wars, including this one," Kanda began, his white breath flowing like dragon's smoke. "For each of those wars he had a new name. The name Lavi just happens to be the newest of those names. Now why do you suppose he gets a new name each time he enters a new war?"

"Kanda…" Allen began. "You don't mean -"

"Yes," the dark-haired Exorcist interrupted. "For each new war he has to start with a clean slate. He might have formed some unnecessary opinions during the previous war. Isn't that right, Bookman?"

The elder only leered at him.

"But you've never tried to brainwash an Exorcist before, have you?" he asked, a venomous smirk slipping up his face. "You weren't expecting a forest to appear when you broke his mind, were you?"

Bookman closed his eyes.

"I still don't understand it," he admitted. "I had taken his hammer. It shouldn't have been able to do anything when it was isolated from its host."

"Tch," Kanda replied, his dark eyes still locked on Bookman. "Even an Equip-type Innocence like Lavi's had spiritual ties to its host, even if those ties aren't physical like a Parasitic type's. Just because you broke his mind doesn't mean you broke those ties. If anything, it strengthened those ties. Innocence is known to evolve when its host is great enough danger, after all."

He felt the corrupted fragrance of the burnt roses melt into his senses. The toxic grin slipped over Kanda's mouth further.

"You may have cut your puppet's strings, but he still moves," the dark-eyed samurai went on. "Now the Innocence has reacted to Lavi's shattered and confused thoughts and created this raging forest. You should be proud of his power."

His grin twisted into a snarl.

"You wouldn't hesitate to break any of our minds in the name of your secrecy, if Lavi's Innocence hadn't reacted so strongly to your attack," Kanda growled. "But this is not another mindless war. If this war is lost, there will be no more history for you to write."

Bookman said nothing.

"You say that Bookman aren't allowed to meddle in history. And yet by not acting your part as an Exorcist, a disciple of God, and injuring another, you not only meddle in the affairs of history, but in the affairs of God."

The samurai pointed his sword at Bookman.

"Well? Don't you have anything to say?"

The elder remained silent.

"Answer me!"

Bookman closed his eyes.

"…My punishment from God will arrive shortly," the old scribe spoke, still keeping his eyes closed.

"Hmm?" Kanda asked, the rose scent dispelling from his senses. "What do you mean?"

"My disciple…" Bookman began. "…will soon become Fallen."

"Fallen?" Kanda questioned, "What do you mean by Fallen?"

He heard a sharp gasp, and saw Lenalee shaking.

"No…he can't be…" she breathed, tottering forward. "It can't be true…Lavi…he…"

"What will happen to Lavi if he's Fallen?" asked Allen, looking frightened by the violet-eyed girl's reaction.

"He will turn into a monster and be consumed by his Innocence," replied Bookman, opening his eyes again.

Kanda's eyes widened.

"What?! Why would Lavi's Innocence try to destroy him?!" exclaimed Allen.

"Tch," Kanda growled, lowering his blade. "It's just a fancy term for Innocence gone berserk, isn't it? With its host now insane and unable to control it, the power of the Innocence keeps escalating. His mind won't be able to withstand that extra power, much less his body. Am I right, Bookman?"

The elderly scribe said nothing as he turned around.

"It won't be long until the Innocence's power reaches critical levels," Bookman stated, turning around. "You should get out while you still can. A Fallen's power is formidable, and I will only be able to hold him back for so long."

He summoned black needles to his fingertips.

"No!"

It was Lenalee that had spoken, her body still shaking but her eyes blazing. Bookman turned his head.

"We're not going to abandon him! We're going to save him! We're going to save Lavi!"

The panda-marked man closed his eyes.

"That is impossible."

"I don't care!" she screeched, stomping her foot and causing a whirlwind to spin around her. "I have to try, even if it kills me! Even if he kills me!"

"I won't turn my back on Lavi either!" echoed Allen, his clawed arm clenched into a fist. "Not after everything we've been through…I won't let it end like this!"

Kanda looked back at his fellow Exorcists, and then leered back at Bookman.

"Do you think that I'm going to stand by and let that idiot Fall for something that's not his blasted fault?"

Bookman sighed.

The forest air suddenly grew torrid, and the glow of the trees and roses intensified until the woods seemed little more than a green-and-red blur. The ice morphed into white steam that caused Kanda's hair to rise and hover.

"There isn't much time left," said Bookman. "We must hurry."

The pack of Exorcists dashed through the smeared forest of color and fragrance. Pillars of fire and ice began to erupt from the ground below, while lightning and scorching rain plummeted from the canopy above. Kanda soon found himself being overtaken by Lenalee.

"…You've…seen one before, haven't you?" he questioned. "Someone who has Fallen?"

The female Exorcist gave a stiff nod in reply, not looking at the dark-haired samurai.

Kanda did not pursue the subject. Any questions he had would probably be answered soon anyway.

_IIIIII_

_Kanda was a pain in the butt to write in this part, since I was having trouble finding a good balance between his control and him being really pissed off. I hope he turned out right after all the tweaking. Bookman was difficult too. I have a feeling I've made him into too much of a diabolitcal bastard (being a Lavi fan who doesn't like to see him get knocked about on a regular basis, even if it is funny)_

_Okay, to clear things up, the whole 49 names and Bookman brainwashing thing is true (EDIT: Or not. Turns out to be a theory as well. This is what I get for not reading ahead myself and basing theories on rumors. I apologize. At least this is a AU fic already anyway.). Just about everything else here is theory, such as HOW Bookman does his brainwashing (from what I've heard the ability is only mentioned, not seen or explained in detail). To be honest, I'm not sure if Equip-types like Lavi can become Fallen or not (I've only seen it with Parasitic types) but I know there is SOME kind of connection there, otherwise he would not be able to wield Innocence at all. So I'm assuming that they can Fall, and if not...well, this is an AU fic, after all._

_**NEXT CHAPTER: **A battle of the bodies...and the minds? What is Lavi's true power?_

_Cya!_


	3. Under the Heavens

_Hiya! Here is the final chapter! Once again almost everything here is based on theory._

_Disclaimer: If I owned I would travel to my school via Lavi's hammer and save tons of gas. But I don't, so I must drive a car like all other mortals._

_EDIT: Italics fixed here as well.  
_

Chapter 3: Under the Heavens

_"People disgust me, with all their wars and bloodshed and deception," Lavi had said back on the ship, his eyes still burning from the flaming sunset. Now the sky was almost entirely crimson, making the sea below it look like blood rather than water._

_"Why are you telling me this?" asked Kanda, his queasy stomach demanding more attention than the redhead's rambling._

_"I dunno," the emerald-eyed Exorcist answered. "I guess I just feel like ranting about the stupidity of humanity."_

_"You're human too, you know."_

_Lavi smiled._

_"Everyone is born human, but very few remain so."_

_Kanda gave him a blank stare, and the redhead laughed._

_"What?" the blademaster asked crossly._

_"Nothing," Lavi began, turning back to the falling day. "…Let's just say that sometimes I wish I was made of wood instead."_

IIIIII

Lavi was unconscious, though still ensnared in the same organic tangle. The hammer bound above him gave off a constant green light, with the excess sparks of power slithering down the wooden vines and into the scarlet-haired Exorcist.

"Lavi!" Kanda called. "Wake up, idiot!"

Both the hammer and the redhead were enveloped into a bright white aura. The pallid power ate away at the wooden vines that encased the Innocence and its host, until the rough coils cracked and snapped. The Exorcist and his weapon both began to fall.

"Lavi!" Lenalee cried out, running forward to catch him.

"Wait!" shouted Bookman.

Suddenly Lavi twisted around in the air, his eye snapping open and shining a pale green. A golden halo materialized above his head.

He lunged for Lenalee, who barely avoided the strike. One of the ties for her pigtails was torn loose, letting part of her long hair flow freely.

Instead of falling to the ground, the crimson-maned scribe spun around and righted himself in mid air. He held his arms out to the side, his glowing eye glaring as scarlet symbols formed around him.

"Scatter!" Bookman commanded.

From the multiple designs erupted multiple snakes, writhing out in all directions. Pillars of magma exploded from the ground as the Exorcists spread out.

"First Illusion! Hell's Insects!" shouted Kanda, bringing forth the sinewy creatures. The silver bugs could not focus on one snake, however, and were quickly eliminated.

Kanda snarled.

"Double Illusion Sword!" he yelled, as a white aura enveloped his blade. The ghostly light spiraled across his shoulder to his other arm, where a duplicate blade appeared.

One of the fiery serpents, though it hardly looked like a snake now, flew toward the dark-haired blademaster blindly.

"Eight Flower Mantis!" Kanda roared, taking a series of slices at the approaching snake. It dissolved into heat and embers.

"Lavi!" he shouted.

The shining eye of the scribe darted over to Kanda. In a moment the redhead vanished, and then reappeared in front of the samurai with his fist drawn back.

Kanda stumbled back, his cheek stinging from the unexpected blow. When did Lavi learn how to punch so well?

The dark-eyed Exorcist had little time to think about it, for soon he found himself dodging a blizzard of punches from the halo-bearing scribe. From the corner of his eye he noticed Bookman evading swings from the now-masterless mallet, while Allen and Lenalee dealt with the nearby fire snakes.

_As if we don't have enough problems…now we have to deal with that blasted hammer too…_

An uppercut struck Kanda's chin, causing the swordsman to stagger back. Before he could recover the shining Exorcist slammed into him with supernatural speed, sending Kanda flying into the trunk of a tree.

**Never, never, this will never, stupid, pathetic, this will never- **

The thoughts looped like vipers in Kanda's head, though they were not his thoughts, as foreign anger and abhorrence polluted his blood like poison.

"Damn…like before…" he hissed, his body paralyzed by the other will flowing through him. This time he wasn't able to free himself in time to avoid the emerald-eye scribe's next punch. Scarlet trickled from one side of his lip.

_Blast…I can't fight him like this…_

"Eight Flower Mantis!" he yelled, aiming his attack at the ground. Dust and dirt shrouded the samurai from sight, though he could still see his opponent's white aura.

Kanda deactivated his second illusion, sheathed the remaining blade, and held it before him as he rushed toward the shining figure. Before the glowing Exorcist had time to react, Kanda slammed him into the ground and pressed the sheathed blade hard against his throat.

"Do you want to die?" hissed the dark-eyed Exorcist, the redhead snarling and glaring as he twisted his head from side to side. "Well, do you? Because you will die at this rate."

The scribe gave off a flare of bright white light, and Kanda was flung into the air. Unfamiliar memories slipped across his mind, memories of Bookman reading, Bookman watching, Bookman angry and raising his hand, Bookman wide-eyed as the hammer floated out of his coat pocket and grew to an enormous size without any command from its master…

Landing roughly in the scorched grass, Kanda had only pushed himself into a sitting position when the halo-bearing Exorcist lunged at him and sunk his teeth into his arm.

Kanda felt the pain only slightly, for suddenly his mind was submerged in fragmented emotions and remembrances that weren't his. A golden field, **never**, a castle in flames, **why**, soldier bodies piled on top of each other, **why**, a flurry of red rose petals flying overhead, **please**, hundreds of trees erupting from the ground, **NEVER**-

"Kanda!" he heard Allen call out, his senses returning as the redhead was swatted off his arm. "Lavi, please stop!"

The stoic swordmaster looked down at his arm, where the wound was already closing. His black sleeve soaked up a few stray drops of blood.

"Are you alright?" asked Allen, while Lavi was attacked by some of Bookman's needles. The shining Exorcist easily dispelled the projectiles and soared toward the elderly scribe.

"Alright enough," Kanda replied coolly, still gazing at the spot where the wound had been. "I just didn't expect him to _bite_ me."

A large shadow loomed over them, and saw the giant glowing hammer getting ready to smash them. They dashed in opposite directions to avoid the blow.

"Kanda, if we can stop the Innocence, then maybe we can save Lavi," shouted Allen, avoiding a fire serpent and ice spikes while dashing back over to the dark-haired warrior.

"And just how are we supposed to do that?" asked Kanda, as he activated his Double Illusion Sword.

"If we can just drain away all its excess power-"

"Do you have any idea how much power that is?!" growled the samurai. "And I'm not so sure that it's the Innocence that's driving Lavi mad. Hell, it might be the other way around, with him driving his Innocence insane. I know he'll drive us insane if he doesn't kill us first."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"His mind is broken. There's nothing to keep his darker emotions in line," he explained. "All those passions were put into making the forest, and now the overflow is seeping into us. Haven't you been feeling strange ever since you've been in this forest?"

"Now that you mention it..."

_Hell_, Kanda wondered to himself. _Is that it? The true power of his Innocence? Imposing his emotions on nature and the hammer?_

"Would you have attacked Bookman back there, normally?" questioned Kanda.

"But he-"

"Would you have killed him, if you had the chance?"

Allen began to speak, but then closed his mouth.

"I…"

The berserk mallet swung at them again, and the two Exorcists hastily dodged.

"But Lavi's not a hateful person," the white-haired boy argued. "Why would he force us to feel like that?"

"This isn't the Lavi you know."

Kanda turned around to face the oncoming hammer.

"That being said, maybe that idiot will come back to his senses if we divert enough of the power," the stern samurai added, getting his twin blades ready. "All I know is that idiot won't listen to a word I say, because he never has."

The dark-eyed swordmaster jumped up and slashed at the mad mallet. He got a sharp shock from the hammer's overflowing white power in return, and was knocked back. The glowing weapon hardly received a scratch.

Allen seized the enormous weapon's handle with his clawed hand, and kept a firm grip on it despite the shocks. The mallet began thrashing around, its size and handle fluctuating in size, with the gray-eyed Exorcist hanging on for all he was worth. The crazy hammer nearly crashed into Lenalee, who was in aerial combat with the shining scribe, but Bookman created a large spike ball that deflected it.

Kanda followed as best he could, but both the erratic path of the hammer and the constant attack of the elements made it an impossible task.

_I'll be useless if I stay at this level of power._

Allen was thrown off the handle, his back hitting a tree trunk. He looked dazed, but Kanda suspected it was more from the hostile emotion and thoughts pouring into him than any damage from the blow.

Kanda felt his eyes burn.

_That idiot better survive, because he will owe me greatly for this._

The pupils in Kanda's eyes split into three smaller orbs, and long blue marks formed around his eyes.

"Ascending Flower! Forbidden Skill, Triple Illusion!" he yelled. "Tap my life force for power!"

The resulting flash of white light eradicated all the elemental terrors near him. He noticed the glowing green eye of the redhead paid him a quick glance, before being distracted by more of Bookman's needles.

The dark-haired samurai was little more than a blur as he sped toward the mad mallet. The berserk weapon swung down to crush him, but he guarded by crossing his swords together. The aura of the twin blades blazed outward like dragon's tongues. He felt the overflowing power pour into his body, but he ignored the pain as he focused on keeping the hammer above his head.

"That's it, you glorified mole-whacker," Kanda taunted, smirking in spite of the shocks. "Focus all your energy on me."

He gritted his teeth as the shocks intensified and the hammer continued to press against the aura of the crossed twin blades. His eyes squeezed shut as the muscles in his arms began to burn.

Kanda suddenly felt the weight lessen as he heard a cry of pain beside him. He opened his eyes to see Allen next to him, holding the hammer in place with his monstrous gray arm. White power crackled down his body.

"You…"

"We need to avert the power flow from Lavi as much as possible, right?" the Exorcist with colorless hair stated, his left eye tightly closed. "This is what Lavi's been going through all this time. Even if I can only take away a little bit…"

Kanda nodded, and the unearthly blaze of his blades intensified.

IIIIII

_"Why do you give up so easily?"_

_"Huh? Whacha mean?" Lavi asked, back on the ship. The redness of the sky was starting to melt into pinks and purples._

_"You go through all that trouble to flirt with a girl, and then you fall back and watch them from a distance," Kanda explained, wishing that the sea would settle down a little more for the sake of his stomach. "Why do you bother if you're just going to run?"_

_"Well, it's hard to have a girlfriend when a certain old panda's watching you all the time," Lavi answered with a sly grin that soon faded. "…But I guess I'm just scared. Scared that I'll get too close and end up being hurt by them, or that I'll hurt them somehow. It's not worth the pain."_

_He turned to Kanda, who was watching the ocean more than the dying sunset._

_"Kinda like you, huh?" he added, smiling. "You don't anybody getting close to you, with that curse of yours and all-"_

_Kanda quickly stood upright, and both his pride and his stomach made him regret it._

_"I…How do you know about that?" he growled, settling back down on the rail._

_"Hey, I'm a Bookman. It's my business to know everybody's business," Lavi answered cheerfully. "But see? We're not so different after all."_

_"Hmph…"_

IIIIII

"Lavi!" he heard Lenalee scream.

Kanda opened one eye just enough so he could look above.

The scarlet-maned scribe was rising upward, his white glow brightening. The golden halo above his head was growing larger and larger.

"God, man, curse it all," he spoke emotionlessly. "Let it all burn to the ground."

The forest around them became engulfed in flames. The glow of the forest itself turned from green to white, and a vicious gale blew from the earth itself.

No…after all we've done…all that we're doing…is it still…not enough?

Kanda heard a light tap and another grunt of pain. He looked toward the hammer handle and saw Bookman crouched on top of it, gripping the unruly weapon with both hands. His black-powdered eyes were squeezed shut and his teeth were bared as the power surged through him.

"Bookman!" Allen exclaimed.

Kanda said nothing.

"Lavi, no!" Lenalee screeched, leaping up to where the redhead floated. "Don't go! Lavi!"

She embraced him tightly, the white power shocking her and causing her to cry out. The other tie snapped, and her fully freed hair was blown straight upward by the gale.

"Don't go! Don't go!" she spoke, her body and voice trembling. "We can't lose you, Lavi!"

"Curse you!" hissed the crimson-haired young man, his glowing eye looking past the violet-eyed girl. "Curse you! Curse you! Curse it all!"

Kanda could hear Allen grunt and groan under the strain of the hammer's weight.

"We're here to save you! We're going to save you!"

"Curse it! Curse it all! It will never, it will never be worth anything!"

Kanda's arms shook as the aura of his swords became unstable.

"We're going to save you because you're important to us! Because you're important to me!"

"Never-"

And then she kissed him.

The shining eye widened and lost its glow, and the white light around him dimmed, as the halo looming above broke apart.

The hammer lost its light also, and dropped to the ground.

Kanda and the other two Exorcists collapsed as the rest of the forest lost its vivid glow and the fire faded. The long blue marks around the samurai's eye faded away as he picked up the now-little hammer. His eyes still burned slightly as he leered at the troublesome thing in his palm.

Kanda noted with vague amusement that Allen's hair was spiked up like a porcupine's from the leftover energy. He thought the look suited him.

"Oh thank God, thank God…" the white-haired boy gasped, as he and Kanda watched Lenalee and Lavi slowly float down to the charred ground. Both of them had tears slipping down their cheeks, Kanda noticed. Whether Lavi's tears were emotional or just an automatic reaction, though, Kanda couldn't tell.

"Never…I…never…" Lavi murmured.

The redhead, though terribly pale, was still awake. His drowsy but living eye wandered over to the two other Exorcists.

"You…" he began, before the wet emerald eye shifted over to the silent Bookman nearby. "…Old man…"

Bookman stood there for a moment, closed his eyes, and walked back into the shadows of the woods.

Lavi's eye widened slightly.

"Old…man…?"

There was no answer, and Lavi's eye drooped sleepily again.

"Bookman?" Allen questioned, still looking at where the panda-marked man had vanished.

Kanda also watched the spot, silently.

Lenalee, still teary, turned back to Lavi with a smile.

"Let's go back to Headquarters, okay?"

"Headquarters…where?" Lavi asked softly. "…Miss…"

Lenalee looked down to the ground for a moment. So did Allen.

"Oh…that's right, your memory…"

Kanda clenched his sheathed sword quietly. He supposed he had been greedy enough to expect another miracle. He had already gotten one just a few moments ago.

"Well, there's no point staying here," the dark-eyed samurai spoke, turning to leave. "Let's go. I'm sick of the smell of roses."

He took a few steps, and noticed a single rose blooming just above his head. Strangely, it was not red, but white.

Kanda looked back at the two Exorcists kneeling on the ground, Lavi now asleep and Lenalee still weepy. Then he glanced over to Allen, who was still a bit wobbly and leaning against a tree.

Kanda's eye twitched.

"…I suppose I have to carry him, don't I?"

IIIIII

_"Can you believe that they named this ship The Nightingale? I mean, whoever heard of a bird that swims instead of flies? Well, I guess there are penguins, but still…" Lavi rambled on, turning to Kanda. "Well, I guess it's time to go in, huh? Sunset's over. Just a few days left…'til the end of the cruise, I mean…Hey Yu, your face looks kinda green. You okay?"_

IIIIII

The redhead woke up briefly, as the Exorcists made their way through the now-calm forest. It hadn't withered away like Kanda had expected it to, though several parts of it were charred black. The Black Order would have a fun time explaining this one.

There was no sign of Bookman.

"…Hey, Yu."

Kanda stopped.

"…What's your name?"

Kanda sighed, as he began to walk again. Once again he had mistaken the pronoun for the name. How many times was he going to do that?

"I am Yu Kanda of the Black Order," he stated plainly enough. "And you've managed to shave a few years off my life this evening."

"…Oh," the redhead replied sleepily. "…Nice to meet you, Yu."

Kanda stayed silent, and the redhead was soon snoring again.

"Hey, Kanda?" Allen called to the hushed swordmaster.

"…After all I tried to do…" Kanda murmured. "It still wasn't…I still wasn't…"

"Huh?" asked Allen, tilting his head slightly. "I couldn't hear you."

Kanda suddenly glared at the white-haired boy, who flinched slightly.

"I said, let's make sure this never happens again."

_IIIIII_

_Thank you all for reading this far! I hope the end of the battle scene didn't seem too sappy XD. Love conquers all! (shot)_

_I know it seems odd that it would take Lavi so long to transform, but I am assuming that it would take a longer time than a Parasitic type b/c of the weaker connections between host and Innocence. The whole "emotion-powered Innocence" thing that Kanda wonders about is also theory._

_Oh yes, bonus to anyone who figures out where the title of the story is from._

___EDIT: Heh, so many things in this story are disproven/outdated now, but I still love it anyway XD._  


_Cya!_


End file.
